The
Alberta general election of 1982 was the twentieth
general election for the Province of Alberta
, Canada
. It
was held on November 2, 1982 to elect members of the
Legislative Assembly of
Alberta.
Less than four years had passed since the
Progressive
Conservatives won their landslide victory in
1979.
Premier
Peter Lougheed decided to call a
snap election to catch fledgling new
parties off guard, most notably the
separatist Western Canada Concept which was
capitalizing on anger over Lougheed's perceived weakness in
dealings with the
federal
government, in particular his acceptance of the hugely
unpopular
National Energy
Program. The WCC had won a by-election earlier in the year, and
Lougheed decided that it would be wise to stage a showdown with the
WCC sooner rather than later.
Lougheed then proceeded to mount a campaign based largely on
scare tactics, warning Albertans angry
with Ottawa but yet uneasy with the WCC that they could end up with
a separatist government by voting for a separatist party. The
strategy worked for the Tories, who won their fourth consecutive
term in government, and returned to the 62% popular vote level it
had attained in the
1975
election. The PC party won 75 of the 79 seats in the
legislature.
The
Alberta Liberal Party was
punished in the wake of the NEP and was barely able to field
candidates in a third of the riding's, and went down to one of its
worst showings in party history.
The
Social Credit
Party collapsed: its share of the popular vote fell from almost
20% to less than one percent after its legislative
caucus had resigned from the party. Two of its
members won re-election as independents, and later formed the
Representative Party of
Alberta.
The
New Democratic
Party, led by
Grant Notley, became
the official opposition when it doubled its legislative caucus from
one member to two.
The WCC, a party that advocated the separation of the four western
provinces of Canada to form a new country, had surprised Canadians
when
Gordon Kesler won his by-election
and took a seat in the Alberta legislature. Although Kesler lost
his seat in this election after he changed electoral districts from
Olds-Didsbury and ran in
Highwood, the WCC won almost
12% of the popular vote.
The
Alberta Reform Movement
a new party founded by ex-Progressive Conservative
Tom Sindlinger was not ready for the election
and ended up losing its only seat in Calgary Buffalo
Results
Note:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
Members elected
For complete electoral history, see individual
districts
See also
References
Wikis
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